Modern kitchens place a premium on both high quality cabinetry and efficient storage. In the past, traditional pullout drawers have been built into cabinets from cabinetry wood. However, wood drawers are both heavy and difficult to clean. Moreover, wooden drawers are difficult to adjust properly, which makes mounting them in a way which aligns with the cabinet face difficult and costly. Further, prior art wooden pullout drawers are not easily removable for cleaning, which makes them difficult to use for trash receptacles.
In an effort to overcome these difficulties, the prior art has responded by various pullout drawer systems.
For example, U.S. Publication No. US2013/0088134 to Varner, et al. discloses a storage and organization system for garbage cabinet including pullouts and accessories constructed to fit closely into differently sized storage spaces to increase efficiency and capacity. However, the system includes many solid pieces, making it heavy, difficult to install, and difficult to adjust.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,816 to Compagnucci discloses a frame used to support racks that slide out from a cabinet and rotate around a vertical axis. The frame comprises a rectangular structure formed of two uprights connected by upper and lower cross-pieces. The cross-pieces are coupled to telescopic sliding assemblies mounted within the cabinet. The cross-pieces are pinned to the sliding assemblies to allow the rack to rotate approximately 90° on a vertical axis such that the frame becomes parallel with the face of the cabinet only at a fully deployed position. Stops mounted to the cross-pieces prevent the frame from sliding to a stored position within the cabinet before the frame is rotated 90° such that the frame is parallel with the sliding assemblies. The device does not provide a lightweight structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,966 to Fulterer discloses a pullout device for a tall cupboard. The device comprises upper and lower sliding assemblies including telescopically sliding rails and running rollers. A vertically extending pullout frame, which is formed of vertical front and rear bars and horizontal upper and lower bars, is secured to the sliding assemblies. The front and rear bars and the upper and lower bars can be formed as telescopic members, permitting to adapt the device to the dimensions of the tall cupboard. A plurality of baskets can be hung between the vertical. A frontal screen is secured to the front vertical bar. The frontal screen is not easily adjustable.
U.S. Pat. No. RE41,725 to Walburn discloses a drawer slide system providing desired access and stability for a side access drawer. The system comprises a drawer having a front wall, a back wall, a base, and plurality of shelves connected between the front and back walls. The base includes a pair of vertical webs. The base is slidably mounted on a sliding assembly comprised of one horizontally oriented drawer slide and a pair of vertically oriented drawer slides mounted to vertical webs of the base. The device does not provide easy adjustment and is not removable.
Despite the advantages of the prior art, a major drawback has been that the pullout drawers disclosed are not easily installed, adjusted or cleaned. The prior art fails to disclose or suggest a pullout drawer that is lightweight and which is both easily adjustable to accommodate alignment with adjacent cabinets and easily removed for cleaning. Therefore, there is a need for a pullout drawer that is lightweight, easily adjustable to ensure a coordinated appearance with pre-existing cabinetry and easily removable for cleaning.